"I'm concerned that there is some perception that there is more opposition than there really is," said Randy Morrison, 66, of Columbus, one of about a thousand people to attend the evening rally at the Ohio Expo Center. "The side in favor of it thought that when we elected President Obama this was going to pass and we didn't need to do anything to make it happen."

But backers have learned that just because Democrats control Congress and the Oval Office, that doesn't mean major initiatives won't get stuck in the muck -- especially when there is a motivated opposition.

Lawmakers return to Washington next week, when efforts resume in the House and Senate to craft a health-care package to lower costs and offer coverage to most -- if not all -- 47 million uninsured Americans.

Organized by liberal groups, including the state chapter of Health Care for America Now, the rally was part of a counterattack against conservative critics of the overhaul pushed by Obama and congressional Democrats. Organizing for America, Obama's political arm housed within the Democratic National Committee, participated as part of its nationwide bus tour.

With about four dozen protesters making their voices heard outside, the atmosphere inside the Lausche Building was that of a campaign rally. For Steve Wingo, 40, of Grove City, it was his first live political event.

"The opposition on television, all you've been seeing is shouting matches and people getting thrown out," he said of town-hall meetings. "I think this side needs help. People like me can sit home and watch it on television, but I guess I'm trying to do my part showing that there are people who actually support this."

Sen. Sherrod Brown fired up the crowd, telling how the late Sen. Ted Kennedy asked him to draft the bill's "public option," a federal insurance choice to compete with private insurance companies in an effort to make coverage more affordable.

"I know the public option is going to work, and the public option is going to be part of the health insurance bill," he said.

Brown is pushing a Senate bill that would require every American to have insurance, mandate that businesses offer coverage to their employees and prevent insurers from turning away those with pre-existing conditions.

Earlier yesterday, Brown hosted a forum before a divided crowd of about 1,000 at the University of Cincinnati. The Ohio Democrat said he was warned not to do the meeting in conservative southwestern Ohio, but "I'm not going to run from them, and you're not going to run from them."

U.S. Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy of Columbus also spoke in Columbus in favor of a "robust public option." But the public option has become a lightning rod, pitting not just Republicans against Democrats, but dividing liberal Democrats from conservative Democrats.

Democrats including Reps. Zack Space of Dover and Charlie Wilson of St. Clairsville are open to excluding it from a final health-care bill.

Protesters yesterday talked about big government and loss of freedoms.

"There is a better way to fix the health-care system than additional meddling, a government takeover and third-party payments," said Joe Bozzi, 35, of Westerville.

Republicans including U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky have advocated that the president start over on health-care reform.

Republicans yesterday also began running television ads nationwide promoting a "seniors bill of rights," and criticizing a Democratic proposal to save $500 million by trimming Medicare payments to hospitals, nursing homes and other providers.

Meanwhile, Obama, increasingly impatient with Senate negotiations, might offer more details of his goals for overhauling the nation's health system.

The president is considering a speech in the next week or so in which he would be "more prescriptive" about what he feels Congress must include in a bill, top adviser David Axelrod said in an Associated Press interview.

Dispatch reporter Catherine Candisky contributed to this story.

jsiegel@dispatch.com

jriskind@dispatch.com

Protesters talked about big government and loss of freedoms.